now what's all this about me not offering any evidence that trinity has lowest academic standards within nescac football.
i will restate for the mouth-breathing trinity posters again. i cited 3 examples:
1) lowest nescac median sats ( barron's)
2) lowest nescac ranking ( us world and news report )
3) lowest nescac selectivity rate --not even in top 100 nationwide for all schools. ( usw&nr)....laughable.


that's pretty hard evidence that trinity is butt-bottom last academically in this league. the trinity situation presents both a problem and an opportunity for a fresh approach to league admissions standards. trinity has disgraced itself and the league through its violations of the spirit of nescac mission statement. as a nescac athlete myself i am ashamed that trinity is a part of nescac. trinity is ( was ) honor-bound by the nescac mission statement ( which i posted earlier ). it's one thing for an athlete to make ill-advised, morally-compromised decisions in an effort to gain an advantage on the playing field but when an institution, one supposedly committed to the pursuit of academic excellence as the m.s. calls for, seeks to leverage its low academic standards to develop a dominant athletic program, then the situation poses a threat to league unity and harmony. trinity, itself, is in turmoil over its poor peer academic standing and the shame spiral many there feel at being so academically inferior to their nescac brethren has become quite public. in complete disgust, some  trinity alums are calling for the for severe athletic reform at trinity while, sadly, others feel the only solution is terminating the football program. the trinity football program is such a concern across the  league that certain factions here at amherst claim that the role ( read: presence) of  athletics in nescac needs to be reassessed entirely.

in response to that concern i propose that an league academic index be utilized in the future to insure the that embarrassments like trinity's football program don't go unchecked in the future and to head off efforts by certain factions within academia to severly limit the stature and scope of nescac athletics. to that end, i propose that nescac institute a floor index (minimum academic s.a.t. and g.p.a. standards)  for all freshmen and transfer student-athletes applying to nescac schools. ( for bowdoin which, I hear, doesn't require s.a.t.s something would have to be worked out ). the ivy league utilizes such an index with good success and there's no reason why nescac shouldn't as well. the difference is that my proposal is a more concrete metric and would have better oversight ( a clearinghouse would be established to review data and insure compliance). through this measure economies of scale are acheived, transparancy will be attained, and an atmosphere of trust will be engendered. the index is simpler and less byzantine than the ivy counterpart and can't be massaged-- as the ivy version can. its a better mousetrap with less bells and whistles but above all it would insure that no school's standards could be dropped so low as to acheive an unfair advantage on the playing field. we all know a league standard is long overdue and would go a long way to resurrecting league harmony and mutual respect. it would, above all, be good medicine for a place like trinity that strays from a league mission statement by which all members are presently honor bound.

Lastly from the 10/25/5 trinity student paper op page, here's more insight into the scope of trinity's inferiority complex:

"......Again, I offer an apology to Ericson, for he has our best interests at heart. This letter just represents an unsettling theme - a theme in which Trinity College as an institution acts like a creepy dude at the beach with a cucumber in his speedo. Bear with me as I continue that metaphor, a la the oversexed Tripod Features or the "AT" column. Trinity wants to compete with the porn stars of the NESCAC (Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin) but simply can't. We just don't have the magnificent endowment (har-har) that these schools possess. But we can't stop complaining. This is what bugs me. This is why I'm cranky. I'm going to come out and say it: Trinity College has penis envy. Care to disagree? Our mascot, the Bantam, is defined as a small, angry cock. Disquieting.

Perhaps, somewhere, God is laughing at us. " 
i know i am, and so is the rest of the league.

it's easy to be a snob when you're talking about trinity. it has the lowest academic standards of any other nescac school, so if anybody from another league school starts talking about trinity, well they're talking about an academic inferior. trinity has defined itself as such, not the other way around. trinity then componds this shame and disgrace by leveraging their low admissions standards to gain an insurmountable advantage on the football field. there's no jealousy involved here.  do some of the trin posters  think people around the league are upset about not going to the worst school in the league? it just never gets old throwing trinity under the bus, mostly because of all the sensitive, wounded trin posters on this site who can't deal with the fact that their school is the pits of nescac academically. but when trinity uses this situation as a competitive advantage on the football field they do indeed violate the tenents that define and embody nescac. one of the things that distinguishes nescac from the rest of d3 leagues is that its members all uphold the pursuit of academic excellence as their highest goal. hell, it's even written in the athletic league's mission statement. take a look:

The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), founded in 1971, consists of eleven highly selective liberal arts colleges. Its members are committed first and foremost to academic excellenceThe New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), founded in 1971, consists of eleven highly selective liberal arts colleges. Its members are committed first and foremost to academic excellence".....and sports are along for the ride.

now somebody has to be last, but when an institution is consistently last--someone told me trinity was the weakest sistah from the git go in ' 71-- then they fail to uphold the values of the league. long ago union was asked to leave the league, ostensibly for hockey recruiting violations. but the real reasons behind this parting of the ways, according to some here, was the erosion of union's academic standards -- that, and union was pursuing d1 hockey. in short, as the euphemism goes "it was headed in a different direction" ( read: south ). now that sounds a lot like trinity: years in the cellar academically but lacking the direction, motivation or focus to improve its digraceful, shameful legacy.

nobody here is bashing bowdoin for their recent success on the gridiron, certainly not me. that's because it has its priorities straight: academics first, football somewhere behind that. it builds its program with good students, students who are students first. the football program improves and the school's ranking isn't in the nescac cellar. no problem, they're a legitimate nescac school with the right priorities. i not just saying that, they've define themselves as such. folks around nescac roundly hammer trinity because they see a school obsessed with football while their academic rep reeks. and, within nescac, trinity is virtually in a league by itself academically.  i use three hardfast criteria to make that case:

- median sat scores - strike 1  ( lower than any other nescac school)
- Top 100 Schools for selectivity- strike 2 ( lowest in nescac... and not even on the list )
- NESCAC comprehensive rankings- strike 3 ( includes student satisfaction, social life )

i cite these again and again because this stuff is all self-reported, has a history and paints the  institution's hapless profile in context and beyond-- on a national scale.

now let's talk about that disgrace, the turd in the punchbowl, the newark of nescac, that utter and complete embarrassment of a hovel in hartford: Trinity.
trinity, academically speaking, has fouled its own nest and now is forced to lay in its own filth. but the stench that rises from the nescac cellar is one that nauseates its fellow true and principled members. as with all spring cleaning trash, dross and filth must be removed. now is the time for action, now is the time for corrective measures and my own modest proposal: trinity must clean up its act or be forced to leave nescac. trinity taints all other nescac members by association alone because by nescac standards, trinity is consistently last. oh, the shame it brings to us all! now if a student is at the bottom his class he is told to improve or withdraw; if a football player can't keep up, he's cut from the team. nescac should do no less. i say give trinity a probation period ( ~ 3yrs ) to improve it's act or send it packing. it's in trinity's best interests and it rests in ours as well. my dogs, i say it's time trinity clean itself up or be shown the door... it's really beginning to smell.

study break and i am high atop mountain dew. lol....i mean screaming.  trinity people: i'm lovin' the hurt, the feelin' all defensive 'bout your school. you guys know, i mean you just know, deep down  that you're the worst school academically in the league. you're rock bottom, boys, and it's not just you guys who know it, everybody knows it! trinity's not even in the top 100 most selective schools in the country-- now that's lame on a national level!  but you're not talkin' about kickin' butt on a national level just yet, right-- was that tufts you hammered 7-0 this weekend?-- and this is a nescac post, after all, so let's keep the nescac frame of reference here.  now, if i went to that embarrassment, that disgrace of a dump in hartford, i'd be all hurt and defensive too. really i would and, admit it, you even paid to go there. while your school's rep is the pits of the league, your school's been working on building up a program that's kickin' ass in the mighty nescac. good to see where the priorities are, right? well at least you can go destroy mt. union in the playoffs come december...oh,wait..... you can't. hey, now that doesn't seem like you're getting maximum utility out those ballplayin' boneheads bants does it? lol, every school you play is better than you academically and  it's not about someone's attitude or opinion, fellas, it's about facts....cold.....hard....quantifiable metrics. yes, just the facts, boys.....and that's what's gotta hurt soooooooo much. yes, bant551, it takes a man to admit that someone's better than you. now get someone to read this post to you
(very) slowly.... and then "grow up."


 

while folks are getting all upset and firing off ad hominem attacks at me for being elistist or whatever, you're failing to grasp the message which is irrefutable: the trinity football program has the lowest academic standards of any nescac football program and this serves as the foundation for trinity's recent success in football.  That's a fact, born out by statistics self-reported by trinity. facts. period . end of discusion. move on.  i feel your insecurity, your frustations and yes, your pain over the existence of these facts but pillorying someone for merely laying them at your feet only makes you look pathetic. if i was affiliated with an institution with the lowest academic ranking in nesacc, i'd share those feelings in spades as well. the embarassment, the shame in knowing that each of your opponents knows they may be losing to you, but at least are adhering to a higher standard, a higher road, must engender a shame and guilt that takes a heavy toll, one not easliy assuaged by a slew of lop-sided victories. deep down you know that you are cutting corners and no amount of harranging and self-denial can right this. 

i feel sorry--believe me, no jealousy, jonny-- for trinity because it has been exploited by a snake-oil salesman ( priore) looking to pad his resume at the expense of a institution with a leadership vacuum. as soon as its convenient, priore will indeed fly the coop for the next best situation. sadly, it's a well-worn short cut to success for folks of Priore's ilk-- and he's the only one reaping the benefits. pick the school w/ the lowest academic standards in the league, set -up shop w/ a recruiting advantage enjoyed by no others in the league and coast to the top. penn, as been pointed out , in the past has been such a case in point. being able to take in kids of bulk, in bulk that no other league school will accept makes for a easy road to the top and this is what has happened at trinity. period. end of discussion.

now let me show you some love and tell you what I think trinity's path should be. i believe a new and improved academic standing for trinity benefits not only trinity, but all of nescac. trinity's low academic ranking effects all of its members merely by association. hey, if there's a stench coming from your neighbor's house, you have it checked out, right?. as a member of nescac, the primacy of academics and its advancement is, in effect,  your oath. now, if trinity could bring its academic standards more in line with the rest of nescac, it's academic reputation would improve, the quality of its faculty would rise and its meager endowment would rise as well. once its academic reputation was enhanced, then and only then, it could go about the task of buildings its football program in a controlled, responsible manner. i don't know what the deal w/ all the recent changes in presidents is about but clearly there can't be consensus about trinity's direction if that's happening. what's needed is a president with the solid backing of trustees to raise academic standards at trinity. if you, trinity football fans, truly love your school you'll realize that this course will be in both you, your kids, and trinity's best interests.

now let me tell you guys that instead of all this wasted energy over posts about having playoffs or a nine game schedule you should build a consensus about one/both of the suggestions and develop a resolution. post it on a separate website,  if pat won't allow it here, and then have it e-signed and sent to all the nescac presidents.  get that guy who drives to scrimmages in maine to set up a stand at games and have a hard copy signed by folks. you may have to find reps for each school who can circulate word to former teammates and then have someone on campus now get present football members to sign off. prior to sending it to the presidents get your school's newspaper to present it to the student body as a referendum. trust me, most papers love flash points like this. utimately, how you craft the hard copy and e-copy are up to you but get something together that can be presented to the presidents.  it may also define presidents/ colleges positions; you'll also see who stands where and  who stonewalls. in the end the mystery shrouding the presidents reasoning for the status quo may be revealed. it may well change nothing-- and actually, I hope it doesn't--- but in the end you can say you tried and then we can go beyond the same tired topics we hash over all the time.  time for some of you big trin talkers to take some initiative and actually do something, see if all your arguements have any cred at all, bro.  i'm betting that you just continue to sit on your butts because, well, that's just you.

Off to pratt to watch the jeffs beat midd.

while folks are getting all upset and firing off ad hominem attacks at me for being elistist or whatever, you're failing to grasp the message which is irrefutable: the trinity football program has the lowest academic standards of any nescac football program and this serves as the foundation for trinity's recent success in football.  That's a fact, born out by statistics self-reported by trinity. facts. period . end of discusion. move on.  i feel your insecurity, your frustations and yes, your pain over the existence of these facts but pillorying someone for merely laying them at your feet only makes you look pathetic. if i was affiliated with an institution with the lowest academic ranking in nesacc, i'd share those feelings in spades as well. the embarassment, the shame in knowing that each of your opponents knows they may be losing to you, but at least are adhering to a higher standard, a higher road, must engender a shame and guilt that takes a heavy toll, one not easliy assuaged by a slew of lop-sided victories. deep down you know that you are cutting corners and no amount of harranging and self-denial can right this. 

i feel sorry--believe me, no jealousy, jonny-- for trinity because it has been exploited by a snake-oil salesman ( priore) looking to pad his resume at the expense of a institution with a leadership vacuum. as soon as its convenient, priore will indeed fly the coop for the next best situation. sadly, it's a well-worn short cut to success for folks of Priore's ilk-- and he's the only one reaping the benefits. pick the school w/ the lowest academic standards in the league, set -up shop w/ a recruiting advantage enjoyed by no others in the league and coast to the top. penn, as been pointed out , in the past has been such a case in point. being able to take in kids of bulk, in bulk that no other league school will accept makes for a easy road to the top and this is what has happened at trinity. period. end of discussion.

now let me show you some love and tell you what I think trinity's path should be. i believe a new and improved academic standing for trinity benefits not only trinity, but all of nescac. trinity's low academic ranking effects all of its members merely by association. hey, if there's a stench coming from your neighbor's house, you have it checked out, right?. as a member of nescac, the primacy of academics and its advancement is, in effect,  your oath. now, if trinity could bring its academic standards more in line with the rest of nescac, it's academic reputation would improve, the quality of its faculty would rise and its meager endowment would rise as well. once its academic reputation was enhanced, then and only then, it could go about the task of buildings its football program in a controlled, responsible manner. i don't know what the deal w/ all the recent changes in presidents is about but clearly there can't be consensus about trinity's direction if that's happening. what's needed is a president with the solid backing of trustees to raise academic standards at trinity. if you, trinity football fans, truly love your school you'll realize that this course will be in both you, your kids, and trinity's best interests.

now let me tell you guys that instead of all this wasted energy over posts about having playoffs or a nine game schedule you should build a consensus about one/both of the suggestions and develop a resolution. post it on a separate website,  if pat won't allow it here, and then have it e-signed and sent to all the nescac presidents.  get that guy who drives to scrimmages in maine to set up a stand at games and have a hard copy signed by folks. you may have to find reps for each school who can circulate word to former teammates and then have someone on campus now get present football members to sign off. prior to sending it to the presidents get your school's newspaper to present it to the student body as a referendum. trust me, most papers love flash points like this. utimately, how you craft the hard copy and e-copy are up to you but get something together that can be presented to the presidents.  it may also define presidents/ colleges positions; you'll also see who stands where and  who stonewalls. in the end the mystery shrouding the presidents reasoning for the status quo may be revealed. it may well change nothing-- and actually, I hope it doesn't--- but in the end you can say you tried and then we can go beyond the same tired topics we hash over all the time.  time for some of you big trin talkers to take some initiative and actually do something, see if all your arguements have any cred at all, bro.  i'm betting that you just continue to sit on your butts because, well, that's just you.

Off to pratt to watch the jeffs beat midd.

the refrain of nescac football being a shadow of its former self is often heard around the amherst athletic dept. and friends of amherst football group. in recent years both amherst and williams tacitly de-emphasized football in response to pressure from alumni, faculty and even the student body. the departure of farley from the ephs only further hurt their program.

all the while that the jeffs and ephs dominated nescac play they remained as the top two rated colleges in nescac. now that's what nescac is all about. they definitely "did football right"  ( as the colonel might say ) unlike that utterly disgraceful, embarassment of an institution in hartford. people wouldn't  begrudge trinity its success if they were a highly rated nescac institution adhering to the same admissions standards as those schools ranked above it. trinity has leveraged its low ( the lowest ) standards of admissions into league dominance and that's what most nescac folks find so reprehensible. ask any coach in the country--- hell, go ask tara reid-- the most critical factor in building any football program and he'll say it's recruiting. and low admissions standards provide that edge. coaching, chiefly x and o's, helps but only really becomes a factor when there's league parity-- and there's no parity in nescac these past few years, so i'm not buying into the priore's- a-great- coach arguement. i could coach trinity to a nescac title this year, and I'm a freshman. priore maybe a gifted recruiter but compared to whom in nescac. how many fierce recruiting battles does he have to face each year against fellow nescac coaches? probably not many;  the bulk of trinity's team would be deemed inadmissible to other nescac schools so i'm not sure you can be tabbed a super recuiter if there's nobody who can compete against you.

as to the nine game format, that's previously been proposed by amherst and others but the presidents have been reluctant to add on to the front end of the season because of  concerns over liability-- namely, football players on campuses for longer periods while school is not in session: an invitation to mayhem in the eyes of some. the idea of adding the extra game to the end of the season was problematic because it's been argued that it hurts two-sport athletes from participating fully in pre-season stuff with their winter teams. sadly, there are now less two-sport athletes than in the past, still for schools like amherst, williams and midd the ability to offer a potential student-athlete considering going ivy the option of playing two sports has been an a recruiting advantage in the past, one they may not want to relinquish anytime soon. also, amherst and williams consider their entire seasons to revolve around their season-ending game--nescac's best rivalry-- so they really aren't interested in playing games after their annual contest.

given these scheduling constraints, the only option appears to play make the first scrimmage each team currently plays as the "nineth" game although most coaches feel they barely have adequate time to prep their teams as it is now. most of these games would surely be ugly, but it's probably the best way to accomodate a nine game schedule. with a nine game slate, playoffs become superfluous.       

wait, wait guys don't be all mad about me talking down d4 football ( 1,1A, 2, and oops 3 makes 4) and nescac d4 football, at that.  i was hoping we could all be friends....maybe drive to some scrimmages in guitar-pickin'-squeal-like- a-pig waterville-- now that'd be some fun, wouldn't it, boyz.  wait, wait, i want hang in the coop, too and get all worked up about how we'd shock the d4 world if only the  ( morally)  bents  could line- up against the likes of Linfield every year. we'd represent. i mean priore's not going to fly the coop for another sucker school any time soon, right? 

trin doesn't cheat w/ admissions....no, that's not cheating. ok, well, it's an unfair advantage, but its not tantamount to cheating....ok, maybe it is... a little.... let's not argue semantics, we got a win streak going....give me another beer....and tara reid's boobs are real, dude. it's true, my roommate  had her last night...he, like, said so.

i'm laughing my b**** off about all the "excitement" surrounding the nescac win streak.  guys, it's nescac football. since we sometimes talk against a national D3 backdrop, let's cite mt. union's 55 game win streak ( ended '03) as something that's truly impressive. with all this talk about trinity being a national power, i can understand why it makes non-nescac folks snicker. trinity's streak, like williams previous streak, came against lame nescac competition, not top national programs but beyond that, trinity has taken the low route to the top: take kids, in general, nobody else in nescac wants or s/would take. where's the level playing field there? what's there to celebrate in that? let's understand this: trinity fans are celebrating beating a bunch of football lightweights ( who don't even care that they're lightweights ) by, in essence, cheating in the admissions office. sounds like trinity's the rafael palmeiro of the nescac. it's a little bit like a grown man armed w/ sap gloves and a shive, going to an elementary school playground to pummel a bunch 10 yr olds so he can feel better about himself. he knows he's a loser in life, but damn he's going to win this bout, even if he has to pull out the shive.  i'm laughing like the big o.... you can't be serious! trin fans: do you guys cheat old ladies out at thursday bingo??!!
     
   

i like nescac football because my friends play on the team --and they are quite possibly some of the funniest people on this earth-- but whenever they get a little too full of themselves, i remind them that they're playing d3 football, and nescac d3football at that. it's like believing in wwf or santa claus; it's sometimes entertaining, it's just not real.
as for the guy who drove to maine (?) for a scrimmage, seek help....now!

  pat coleman:
                       some ( 3 ) friends here at Amherst complaining that they registered but haven't heard back from the site concerning access. is there a backlog?

camper: you are quite the gracious winner! SIDs are notorious for putting a positive for putting a positive spin on losses--consider their audience.  the previous williams sid was a family friend so i was curious and  checked out the article.  I found it surprisingly even-handed.  the coach was quick and emphatic in his praise of colby ( " I want to emphasize that Colby is a good football team" ) and he didn't go on to qualify this. he lamented his team's play and said they needed to clean up their act. pretty standard stuff coming from a losing coach. I think you may have been offended by the statement to the effect of     'this week we played a good team (colby)  and next week we have to play a great team ( trinity)'. no disrespect intended there at all  and most everybody here would say that's an accurate statement.  if this is what's got you upset then you i'd say you're pretty thin-skinned. i think many people were surprised by the margin of victory- you included, judging by your prediction-- and come to the conclusion that williams probably had a bad day, while colby was surprisingly good. colby's leading a very charmed life this season in having just about all their tough games this year at home while all their away games are fairly easy ( bowdoin a possible exception). . . and, of course, no trinity. i know colby's had some good seasons in the recent past but nescac folks wouldn't confuse the colby program with amherst, williams and trinity ( perennially ) just yet. i hope that changes because the nescac could use some new blood. until then, check that glaring sense of insecurity at the gate and ' act like you've been there before.'

   ephs69: assuming you're an eph, don't wait for that to happen. go to http://www.williams.edu/athletics/
to get periodic updates before you'll see anything here. also,  "the Colby student station (WMHB) will be webcasting the game, accessible via the Internet at www.colby/edu/wmhb. When the WMHB home page opens up click on Listen Live Via Webcast on the top of the page.


The Colby webcast can also be heard on the Williams student station WCFM, 91.9 FM and on the WCFM web site. Go to: http://wcfm.williams.edu/listenlive.htm. If you don't have Quicktime audio playing software, then click on "Download Quicktime" and follow the instructions on the Quicktime download website. If you do have Quicktime, then click on the play button on the bottom Quicktime player, the one under "Off-Campus Use Below." After 10-20 seconds, the game should start playing. If it doesn't work, try again." Good luck to all nescac teams today.

   hamilton's Jeff Hewitt ' 74  played for the cowboys....

   saw in paper that belichick's kid is playing football as a senior captain at Rivers ( MA ) as a lb. maybe wesleyan has him heading its way next yr.

  he played but i don't think he was that good based on the roast i went to in boston 2 yrs ago; i think his teammates nicknamed called him "speed" or something.

fred "superfly" scott, amherst  '74  played w/ the colts.... sorry I just saw somebody said him before

also,  jeff wilner wesleyan '94  played at gb and denver

  if he' protected, i say close enough--especially for nescac purposes. i think coash was maybe on a taxi squad/protected with pats ( others).

i think shield actually dressed for real games in lambeau.

off to class; more names please

   beau coash ( sp) of midd played a little NFL
   
    ted rodgers (sp?) of williams played some
   
    joe shield trin '84  (roman gabrielesque qb )